Food, family and fun on the Fourth of July

Jul. 5, 2013

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Fireworks light the sky Thursday night during the Fourth of July display at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds. / Elisha Page / Argus Leader

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When Mayor Mike Huether speaks, 5-year-old Miriam Benson listens.

That’s why Miriam, her siblings — Keegan, 7, Rosie, 3, and 8-month-old Griffin — and her mother, Heather Benson, dressed up in red, white and blue finery to take part in the Fourth of July Family Parade on Thursday.

Huether had attended a children’s theater production several days earlier, when he urged kids in attendance to decorate bicycles and other vehicles and take part in the parade. Miriam took his words to heart.

Miriam and Keegan pushed their scooters along the parade route, wearing helmets they had decorated with streamers, duct tape and stickers. Red stars on Miriam’s cheeks matched the helium balloon she carried.

Benson pulled her youngest two children in a wagon. They planned to spend time in Falls Park after the parade, participate in a family barbecue in the afternoon, then head out to the fireworks at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds.

“I want to teach my kids about the Fourth, that it’s not just a day you don’t have to work, but it’s the birthday of America,” Benson said. “I want them to have a sense of community.”

Thadd Coon, 13, of Sioux Falls also doubled up his Fourth of July activities. He rode in the Corvette his mother drove, then attended the Jaycees fireworks show with both parents and others in the evening. In the interim, there was fried chicken.

“I like the big bangs,” he said of the fireworks.

Huether took part in the parade, then spent time at Falls Park offering handshakes. He estimated he would shake 10,000 hands — the 5,000 people who attended the picnic would get two handshakes each, Huether joked.

“This is my favorite day as mayor. It’s one of those opportunities where you truly get to see Sioux Falls at its finest,” he said after the parade.

“What I mean by that is that we are celebrating diversity at its utmost on a special day for our country, the Fourth of July. You’re going to see young and old, rich or poor, black and white, people who live here and visitors, and what are they doing? They’re celebrating. Everybody is in a pumped-up mood, and I’m just blessed by it.”

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Crowds gathered early for the parade under a sky made hazy by Canadian fires, with temperatures staying more comfortable than last year’s 99 degrees.

Alicia Luther, rec manager for Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation, said more than 70 registrations for the parade came in this year, which proceeded from 14th Street and Main Avenue down to Phillips Avenue, then to Falls Park.

“Last year we did a new route, and it worked well so we kept it,” Luther said.

The morning road run also drew good numbers, said Jean Pearson, rec coordinator. She had 488 early registrations.

“It was quite a sight,” Pearson said. “We had the city’s Hi-Ranger (boom truck) take aerial shots. People were walking, pushing strollers and running. We had moms, dads, kids, grandpas and grandmas. It was fun to see the people.”

Parade entries included a brass quintet made up of musicians from the Sioux Falls Municipal Band. The band itself played in Falls Park while people ate their picnic lunches.

“He’s the horn player,” Susan Hill said of her husband, Chris, the band’s conductor who for the parade drove a pick-up truck and could blast its horn if needed.

It wasn’t, however. Parade watchers were elated, and Allison Munger, 4, couldn’t contain her excitement as the color guard walked down the street.

“Mommy, the Army,” she said.

Allison and her stepbrother, Lane Maske, 4½, watched the parade from curbside. This is the first time he had attended the parade, said Mike Maske of Harrisburg.

“We wanted to come down and celebrate the Fourth,” said Maske, an Army Guard veteran.

“It’s good to see all the families here and the VFW and the others coming together on Independence Day.”

Pearson said more than 50 people volunteered to serve pork sandwiches and other items at the annual picnic. Some just walked up that day and offered to help. Others, such as Mike Cooper, the city’s director of planning and building services, have helped every year.

“It’s a good way to give back to the community and see the diversity of people in Sioux Falls,” he said. “People come from all demographics. It’s fun to hear the people comment on the city and the park.”

About 35 volunteers — not all Jaycees — helped at the evening fireworks show. The Jaycees needed to raise about $27,000 for the pyrotechnical display, and they were only a little short of that, said Edith Arneson. Her husband, Travis, is state Jaycees president.

This was the Jaycees’ 46th fireworks show, and the club already is looking ahead to 2017, when it marks 50 years.

“That will be a milestone for us,” Arneson said.

Gina Pfleifle said Grand Falls Casino Resort had raised $11,240 through a monthlong promotion which kept the fireworks display free of charge. The crowd for the event varies from 5,000 to 12,000, depending on the weather and the day of the week on which the holiday falls, she said.